KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): The US has sanctioned more than 20 companies, including one from Singapore accused of concealing Iranian oil and disguising the shipment as Malaysian oil.

The US Department of the Treasury alleged that CCIC Singapore Pte Ltd facilitated shipments of millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China on behalf of the Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, and its main commercial affiliate, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company.

“Today’s action underscores our continued focus on intensifying pressure on every aspect of Iran’s oil trade, which the regime uses to fund its dangerous and destabilising activities,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement.

The fresh round of sanctions is the latest US measure targeting Iran, amid reports of the so-called dark fleet tankers gathering in South China Sea to transfer cheap Iranian oil worth billions of dollars to China.

Many of the ships switched off their trackers, resulting in collisions, as well as lack clear ownership registration and went on voyages without safety standards or insurance coverage.

Sepehr Energy has “consistently relied” on CCIC Singapore for the pre-delivery cargo inspections required before oil is transferred to China, as well as to allegedly conceal the oil’s Iranian origins, according to the Treasury Department.

The Treasury Department claimed that CCIC Singapore provided inspection services during a ship-to-ship transfer of about two million barrels of oil, worth over US$130 million in today’s prices, from a sanctioned Sepehr Energy affiliate vessel SIRI in late 2024.

In mid-2024, CCIC Singapore also provided inspection services for the sanctioned vessel HECATE and likely p,rovided what the Treasury Department alleged were falsified documents concealing the vessel’s identity and certifying its Iranian oil cargo as Malaysian heavy crude oil.

Huangdao Inspection and Certification Co Ltd, the China-based sister company of CCIC Singapore, provided oil cargo inspection services to numerous vessels already sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil from late-2023 until at least late-2024, the Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department also named Singapore-based Oriental Apple Company Pte Ltd as one of the firms that collectively took delivery of millions of barrels of Iranian oil from Sepehr Energy, through an individual acting as representatives of the small teapot refineries based in China.

The sanctions will block all assets and interests in property of the designated persons, while barring all Americans from doing businesses with them, unless authorised by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.